Moments
by nakedmolerat
Summary: Moments in Scorpius' and Rose's relationship. One moment for every year they spend in Hogwarts. Hope you enjoy.
1. First year

Moments

First year.

Scorpius had been put into Gryffindor, he couldn't believe it. What would his dad, and grandad say? He didn't know, he was currently sitting in an overstuffed chair, staring into space, his 11-year-old mind worried and a bit ashamed to be sitting where he was. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud raucous in the middle of the common room, a whole bunch of people, many of them read heads, were yelling, laughing, and patting each other on the back. A tall red head boy screamed, "WELCOME YOU TWO!" to a gangly black-haired boy, who looked very pleased with himself and a frizzy red-haired girl.

At that moment the black-haired boy turned around and saw Scorpius staring at them, he sailed over, reached over to shake his hand, and said "I'm Al, you're the Malfoy boy, aren't you?" he wasn't sure quite what to make of the Al, and just nodded.

"Come join us" The boy named Al said. "Fred managed to get some desserts, there's enough to share"

"No thanks" he answered, but at that moment the frizzy haired girl turned around and smiled at them. Al motioned for here to come over and said "This is my cousin, Rose, she also in our year"

Rose waved and said "If you guys don't come over soon, all of the sweets will be gone"

He felt it would be churlish of him to deny the offer twice, specially to a girl, that was standing there smiling at him so widely. He walked with them towards the noisy boys and the massive pile of sweets.

He knew now who this family was, the Weasley and Potter kids were infamous in the magical world. He had been raised knowing of their parents, but aside from the fact that they had helped bring the Dark Lord down, his family had made him think that they had nothing good to recommend them.

He grabbed a single chocolate frog, and just watched, feeling very out of place. Al, was standing next to him jabbering away with his mouth full, arguing with another black-haired boy who seemed to be named James.

The girl named Rose was sitting with a beautiful tall blonde girl, talking about the lessons that would start the next day. She caught his eye and stood "Bit loud, isn't it?" Scorpius said nothing. "I guess after being raised with them you stop noticing it. Do you have any siblings?" He shook his head.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Said Al turning to them, Scorpius turned to look at the boy next to him, he was about to reply scathingly, he had been raised to do that very well, but he realized that there was no malice in the boy's eyes, he did not seem to be mocking him.

"Oh, leave him alone Al, not everybody likes showing people every bite of food they put in their mouths" said Rose rolling his eyes pointedly at him.

Scorpius spent the rest of the night in the company of the massive family, different members of this family came periodically to talk to them, poke fun at them good naturedly, offered more food, but generally just let them be. He knew from what his parents had told him, that the Weasley and Potter clan were a stuck up, sort of people, but all of what was happening now, seemed to contradict what he had been told all of his life.

Time to go to bed came, he said good night to Albus and Rose, and left by himself to the dormitory.

As he laid in his comfortable bed, he decided he would try to avoid the kids he had spent the night with, after all his dad and grandad could not had been this wrong, he would somehow explain that he had been put into Gryffindor by owl in the morning and make new friends that his parents would approve of.


	2. Second year

Moments.

Second year.

The birthday party.

Scorpius was waiting in his bed for Al to be ready, he knew they were already late. Al didn't seem to be worried about the time, but he had been raised to strictly adhered to rules and arrive to his commitments in time.

"Come on AL, the party started more than 10 minutes ago, and we have to go all the way down to the lake"

"Oh, shut up mate, for someone that said he didn't want to intrude in our family's celebration you sure are eager to get there now" Albus screamed from the bottom of his bed where he was still rummaging for some socks.

After quickly becoming friends with Al, during his first year at school he started hanging out with Rose as well, but he had never been as friendly with her as he was with him. It was true however that he had originally said no to Al when he asked him to join him and the rest of his family at Rose's birthday party.

It was not that she disliked Rose, or that his family has ever been impolite to him, but he had always been a little bit uncomfortable with the absolute acceptance, and friendship, he had been offered to him by her, and her whole family for that fact.

He had been raised to see the world a certain way, to think a certain way, and to act a certain way. His family loved him, of that much he was absolutely sure, he had never wanted for anything, and he had never been starved for affection either Albus had been his friend for the past two years. After the first awkward meeting, Al had never stopped talking to him, and their friendship had been solidified after he had been punched in the face by an angry Slytherin 5th year that had attacked Scorpius in a corridor, claiming his family were traitors. After Al's family had found about the encounter, they had "talked" to the 5th year and he had never given him any trouble.

He thought back about the moment that had him now pacing in his dorm room, waiting for his best mate to go to a party he didn't want to attend exactly. Rose had cornered him in the common room, and asked him to join her birthday party personally, Scorpius the ever-present gentleman had had to say yes.

He was working in the common room by himself, since his best mate could not be bothered with such petty matters like a transfiguration essay. That's when Rose had walked in.

"Working on McGonagall's essay? I need to finish mine as well" and that's when she had sat down without asking and started working next to him silently. After what seemed like a very long 30 minutes, Rose had looked up from her work, and caught him staring at her, although he considered himself a very good student, somehow having her next to him was distracting, it was possibly the fact that she was working so quickly and confidently, and that might've made him a little bit unhappy since he was having a hard time with his, or the fact that her happy hums whenever she found the right answer would make him tingly in a very uncomfortable sort of way, or it could be a myriad of things he didn't want to delve into "Something the matter Scorpius?"

"Hmm... No" he answered lamely.

"Ok... Al told me you were not coming on Saturday. Busy with schoolwork?" She asked

"Oh yeah, I still need to finish Bin's essay"

"Really? That essay is not due until next Thursday, can't you do it another day? Al begged me and I ended up fixing his yesterday, maybe you can use it to finish yours." She said smiling.

She was doing it again, sitting there smiling at him like he was the only person worth smiling at. His young brain couldn't cope with these emotions, or why they made him feel so uncomfortable, so he did the only thing he could do. He said yes, and even agreed that they will have fun sitting out in the sun near the lake with the massive amount of food her family always seemed to be able to get. They had spent the rest of the afternoon working together, until Al had walked in and hurried them toward the great hall, since he was sure he was about to faint out of hunger.

"Ok mate, ready." Said Al bringing him out of his recollections.

They walked hurriedly down the halls until they reached the sunny and sweet-smelling grounds. They spotted his family sitting close to a massive tree. As they walked closer, he spotted a banner that said: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSIE, QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE"

Rose walked towards them and scolded them for being late "I thought you guys were not coming" Al raced forward, carried her and screamed "Oooooh waby Wosie was missing his fabowite cousiiiiin" "Oh shut up Al, I see enough of you in all of my classes, get off me" she screamed good naturedly.

At this point Scorpius stepped forward and handed her his gift, a huge box of assorted Honeydukes' sweets. "Happy birthday your majesty" he said smiling toward the banner. "Subtle isn't it?"

"Oh yeah, very subtle" She offered him one of his smiles that made him uneasy, but she took it a step further and gave him a hug. "Thanks for coming Scor" but thankfully let him go quickly.

They had spent the rest of the day outside, celebrating, until it was time for supper.

As Scorpius sat in the massive Gryffindor table, he though he hadn't had quite such an enjoyable day in a long time.

Authors note:

Hello there!

Hopefully there's at least a person out there reading this. This is my first "long" story. All of my other stories have been very short, and this is my attempt at something a bit meatier.

I know there's very little to none romance so far, but hey, this kids are only 12~13 years old. Gotta take it slow.

I'm thinking proper romance will probably start in their 4th year, with some stronger clues towards that in the next chapter, which I will upload shortly.

Please let me know what you think and enjoy!


	3. Third year

Moments

Third year

 _His first Jumper._

It was Christmas morning in the Gryffindor common room, and Rose had brought all of her gifts down to the common room, waiting now for the rest of the Weasley clan and Scorpius, to bring down their gifts as per tradition.

She contemplated the pile of presents in front of her, and recognized the package from her nan, which would undoubtedly contain a new Weasley jumper, it was wrapped in shiny paper, and was a bit lumpy. This was her favorite package to receive, all of her family members had one, and it made her feel included and loved.

Included and loved... she had been pondering these feelings, for the last month or so with the holidays approaching. At least one of these feelings, she though, was lacking in one of her friend's lives.

With this in mind, she had contacted her nan before Christmas day, with a plead that her idiot-cousin had not thought of making.

This person of who she was thinking happened to be making his way down the stairs at the moment, with the aforementioned dim-witted family member of hers.

"Merry Christmas Rosie poo" said Al cheerily.

"Merry Christmas boys" she said to Scorpius and Albus.

"That's quite a big haul you've gotten this year Scor" said Rose looking at the massive pile of beautifully wrapped presents he was carrying.

"My grandparents get a bit carried away during the holidays, especially if I don't make it home during them" he said grinning at her.

"Hope the rest come down quickly, I'm starving" said Albus not paying attention to either of them, and throwing his present down in the floor carelessly.

Scorpius thought that Rose had been looking at his presents way too intently while her relatives came down but shrugged it off.

Quickly, the rest of the family made their way down, all carrying their own gifts with them, and wishing each other a happy Christmas.

After they were all sitting together in the common room, they started opening up their presents one by one, and exclaiming happily whenever they found a present particularly to their liking.

"Whoop thanks mate, this broom servicing kit is gonna do me a whole lot of good" Al told him.

One by one, the Weasley clan wore what he recognized as the handmade jumper they all received every Christmas from their grandmother. This year Rose's sweater had a picture of a flower knitted into its front, and Al's had a lion on his. Scorpius looked at all of the different jumpers with different colors, and different pictures on the front them. He had always liked them, the jumpers, he thought they were very festive and made the lot of them look even more like a family. For the last three years he had stared at the handmade jumpers and thought longingly of how warm and cozy they looked, and how none of his jumpers as expensive as they were, had never seemed to make him as happy as Mrs. Weasley's sweater made all of them.

Just then he heard Rose talking to him, "You missed one" she said grinning widely and pointing at a lumpy silver package at his feet.

"Oh no, that's Al's" he answered passing the package to his best mate.

"Nah mate, I already opened all of mine, this one has your name" Al answered.

Rose's smile grew even wider then, perplexed, Scorpius took the package back, and carefully opened it. Slowly he unwrapped, a big package of toffee, homemade mince pies, and lastly a wonderful, soft, warm, jumper. He was surprised.

"Will you look at that, Scorpius got one of nan's jumper" Exclaimed Hugo, Rose's younger brother.

"Try in on!" screamed Lily and James together.

Sheepishly he put the sweater over his head, and at last became part of this group. He smiled at everybody, very pleased.

After they were all done with the gifts, they picked up the bits of wrapping paper, and went to their respective dorms to drop of their newest possessions and make their way, together, to the amazing Christmas breakfast waiting at the Great hall.

Rose caught up with him on the way there.

"Nice jumper Mr. Malfoy" she said, grinning and reaching under his cloak to pat him in the chest. He felt himself going red and mumbled something that could've been a thank you. She just continued smiling and grabbed his arm to hurry him through the door. Now his arm felt even warmer than his face had felt a few seconds ago.

They ended up sitting across from each other in the massive table, and he kept catching her looking at his sweater and smiling quizzically. He saw her eating a bit hurriedly and then dashing away claiming she had something to do, Scorpius just watched her go.

Rose ran towards the owlery, she needed to send an owl to her nan, thanking her.


	4. Fourth year

Moments

Fourth year

 _You know what they say about eavesdroppers._

It was the summer holiday before their fourth year. Scorpius, Albus, and Lily were laying in the living room, (ok... Lily and Albus were laying, Scor was sitting in an arm chair dignifiedly) drinking cold pumpkin juice after playing Quidditch for hours until the sun had gone down.

"10 minutes until dinner is ready" called grandma Weasley's voice from the Kitchen.

"I thought Rose would be here by now" said Scorpius

'"They probably lost track of time in the shops" answered Lily unconcerned.

Scorpius had been invited yet again to Albus' house to spend the last 3 weeks of the summer break, this visits usually included trips for days at the time to the Burrow, Albus' grandparents' house.

"Yeah mate, you know how Rose gets around souvenirs shops, quit worrying about her" said Al rolling his eyes.

Rose and her family had gone to France for the holidays, they had left the week after school had finished, and had been traveling all around the country, Scorpius had missed her, he had to accept it, even when they had exchanged letter constantly, there was a little funny ache in his chest that had not been there before. He caught himself wishing for once that the holidays could finish quickly so he could see her again. Al, who was usually oblivious to such silly matters such as feelings, had started giving him a look every time he brought up her name.

"I'm not worried, I was just wondering when she was getting here so we could finally finish Bins' essay."

"Right. Because you have not asked me the same question 10 times today. Sure, sure, I can see you're definitely not worried."

"Oh shut up."

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Lily.

"Nothing" he said pointedly to Albus.

Albus, that traitorous low life bag of balls, looked straight at him and then turned to Lily.

"Mr. Malfoy here fancies Rosie" he said simply.

"Reaaaaaally?" asked Lily drawing out the word.

"No, no I don't"

"Yes, he does. He has fancied her since we were twelve."

"Stop" he answered shortly.

"Aww that's so sweet" gushed Lily.

"Sweet? There's nothing sweet about it, it makes him positively murderous."

"No, it doesn't" he answered, but realized that neither of the Potters were listening to him.

"Murderous? I always thought love made you a better person." Said Lily

"LOVE?!" Scorpius said, still being ignored by both of them.

"Oh, you should've seen him last year, glaring at every guy that approached her"

"I did not!? He said uselessly.

"Well Rose IS very pretty and smart, no wonder there's guys hitting on her. You know I heard the Ravenclaw beaters talking about it last year" she said.

"What did they say!?" Jumped Scorpious loudly in the conversation.

"I didn't hear the whole conversation, but he said something about some private studying time" Lily answered.

"HE SAID WHAT!? That dumb fifth year?" he said outraged. How dare that dimwitted troll talk about her like that. Studying indeed.

He started questioning the sorting hat choices, obviously it had placed McLaggen in the wrong house, weren't Ravenclaws supposed to be smart? MgLaggen didn't have the smarts of potted plant, let alone a Hogwarts student, now that he thought about it, he was sure that he had never seen him do magic, he was probably there out of pity. Yes, that's what it was, pity.

While Scorpius was making plans in his head that included the dismemberment of the git, Albus pipped up.

"You know what mate? You're looking a bit green. Don't you agree Lils?"

"Ooooh yeah, I can see some horns growing out of his head" she answered

"Hey Scor, there's some scales popping out of your collar right now. Aren't they itchy?"

"Shut up" he positively growled.

"Getting defensive, Scor?" Lily asked.

"No" he answered, and to his infinite annoyance they both started laughing.

"Just accept it mate, you love her." Al said

"She's just my friend that's it" he answered

"But you want to be friend-li-er, don't you Scorpius?" asked Lily.

"Yes, yes he does, he wants to keep her just for himself" answered his now ex-best mate.

"I don't" he said raising his voice.

"I think the gentleman protests too much" said Lily happily.

"I DO NOT LIKE ROSE WEASLEY, I WILL NEVER LIKE ROSE WEASLEY, AND I WILL APPRECIATE IT IF YOU STOP MENTIONING IT ALBUS EFFING POTTER!" He screamed.

He was breathing hard, and looked at Albus and Lily, only to realize that he had done exactly what they were expecting him to do. Far from them looking chastised they were both smiling widely at each other. He felt himself going red in the face, ashamed of his overreaction, the only time he ever raised his voice was in the Quidditch pitch, he imagined what his mom would say if she heard him now. He looked down at his lap embarrassed.

He continued looking at his lap for a few seconds, while the Potters chatted with each other pleased. He heard murmuring coming from the kitchen, and then a singular sweet voice that turned his blood to ice.

"Hello everybody" said Rose coming in from the kitchen.

Everybody looked up, and Lily ran to hug her.

"Hey Rosie, how was the trip over here, exhausting?" she asked

"Oh you know, not bad" Rose answered approaching the boys.

"How are you, you two? Missed me?" she asked them smiling.

Scorpius thought that her usually sparkly eyes were a bit dimmed and the smile a bit forced, but this could've been his guilty conscience.

"Hey Rosie Poo" said Albus using her nickname, getting up to hug his favorite cousin.

Scorpius was frozen in his spot in the couch.

"Hey Scor, good summer so far?" Rose asked staring intently at him.

"Hey Red" he finally answered snapping out of it, reaching to squeeze her shoulder.

She smiled up at him, and he wondered once again, if she had listened to what he said. And if she did, what was she thinking. He had gotten very good at reading her, but he was having a hard time doing so now.

At that time, Nan Weasley poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Dinner is ready, come help carry the dishes, Fred is finally here, we can start now" she said.

Rose was the first one to leave, and Scorpius watched how his grandma smiled at her, and rub her shoulders. Displays of affection were not something that was rare to see in the Burrow, but this seemed to be something else, something special, there was something comforting about it.

Rose blinked quickly at her grandma and went into the kitchen to help.

The rest of them walked after her to help as well, and then finally sat to have dinner together.

The dinner was delicious as always, but Scorpius, having Rose across from him, couldn't enjoy his dinner. Rose didn't seem to be eating and was not really participating in any of the conversations going on around her. After only thirty minutes, she got up, kissed her grandparents, told the rest of the table that she was tired from the trip and retired to the room that she would be sharing with Lily.

Scorpius stared after her all the way until she was lost from sight, missing because of it, the look that Al and Lily were giving each other.

. . . . . . .

The rest of the holidays passed without incident, things seemed to fall back in to place as they have always been.

The only change that happened was that half way through their fifth year, Rose started dating McLaggen, and this only made Scorpius more and more moody, and aggressive. The culmination of which was a nasty fight after a Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch match, which Gryffindor had won, despite the fact, that Scorpius had missed 10 goals scored by McLaggen.

After the fight, the Ravenclaw chaser had ended up with a bloody nose and a black eye. Rose realizing that her best friend had hurt her boyfriend, went directly to the Griffyndor tower to confront Scorpius. The screaming match that ensued was so loud, that McGonaggal had raised up the dorm, and had given both of them two days' worth of detention, on top of the five that he had received from assaulting the Ravenclaw player.

After the fight, Rose had refused to speak to Scorpius for a couple of months, only starting again after she had broken up with McLaggen.

_AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Hi guys!

Thank your reading, and special thanks for those that have reviewed and followed this story. I Love you guys!

I know that it was a while until the 4th chapter was uploaded, but life got in the way.

I am however very happy that this chapter is finally finished.

Question for you guys:

Do you want a mini-sub-chapter of the point of view of Rose when she arrives to the burrow?

If so, I'll be happy to upload it. I am already working on it.

Have an awesome weekend ahead, I hope you enjoy, and as always leave a review please.

Lots of love

NakedMoleRat


	5. Fifth year

Moments

Fifth Year

 _Stress relievers._

There was three weeks left for the fifth years to take their OWLs. The stress and tension were palpable in the air. Slowly Rose and her classmates had descended into madness, between revision, homework, and their different tasks and groups they each belonged to, there was no break.

At the moment she was sitting in an empty classroom by herself trying to bully her brain to remember more Goblin names for the History of Magic owl.

Suddenly she heard the door smacking against the wall and jumped, dropping a whole ink bottle on top of her notes. Turning she saw Scorpius standing on the doorway, panting heavily.

"What in Merlin pants are you trying to do!? Look at my notes, LOOK AT THEM! How am I supposed to keep studying when they're covered in ink!?" She said running towards him and started pushing him around.

"Red...?" Scorpius said.

"I had been working on those notes for hours and hours at the time!" She kept screaming.

"Rose, Rose, listen to me." He said, trying to make her listen to him.

"And now I have to write EVERYTHING again, like I have all the effing time in the world to re write notes that I had already WRITTEN!"

"ROSE, LISTEN!" He finally said grabbing her and shaking her a bit.

"And now I have to..." She continued ranting.

"Rose, you know how to fix that. You've done it a million times" He told her, still holding on to her.

"Oh yeah." She answered, blinking stupidly at him.

There was a moment, probably not more than a second, that seemed to go on forever. They stared at each other, and neither seemed to be able to move.

He was so close she could see the tiniest of hairs in his face, his very fair eyelashes, and the faint shadows under his eyes that betrayed the amount of sleepless nights he had spent this year.

Thinking back at the moment, Rose could've sworn that some invisible force had pushed her and Scorpius at the same time. Days and weeks after that day she would go back and try to remember how it had started but couldn't recreate the moment. All she could remember is that she was screaming at Scor for some reason one moment, and the next moment she was kissing him, and he was kissing her.

She knew she didn't have much experience in this matter, she had only been kissed twice before, and also knew that he had much more experience in these matters. Yet, there he was, kissing her like she was the only person worth kissing.

She felt him moving his hands slowly from her arms to her waist, and she had to make a conscious effort for her knees not to buckle under her, everything else that happened after this was pure instinct, like something she had done a million times, it was like her body had been created just for this moment, and now that it was finally happening her subconscious took over.

Rose's arms went around his neck and gripped his hair. A sound that could've very well come from a predatory animal left his throat, and now her legs did give out for good, but she was kept upright by him.

Kissing him was an all-time high, all the feelings that she knew she had for him, but she happily ignored, were now pouring out. She didn't know of any other thing that had given her quite this much happiness, she thoroughly enjoyed going out shopping, liked receiving a paper back from her teacher with a big "O" on the top, and loved hanging out with her big boisterous family, but nothing was quite like this.

Insecurities about their friendship, and all the reasons she had come up about why this was not a good idea didn't matter now.

She had never really fully admitted to herself that she like him, but she knew she did. She even imagined her mom and grandma had a very shrew idea that she was into Scor too. There where comment made to her by them that she always brushed off, and gave the same perfunctory answers.

"We are just friends", "We have known each other forever", "He is like family", "He is my cousin's best friend" and other such answers left her mouth easily.

Deep, deep down however, she knew she had always like him, since the moment she had seen him sitting by himself in the Gryffindor common room looking so forlorn. That was a crush, a silly little schoolgirl fancy, but this was something different. The crush had grown and strengthen over time like a love potion kept in a dark cupboard.

And now, here they were, kissing each other in a dark dusty room.

After what could've very well been hours they broke apart, breathing heavily. They just stared at each other for a while, neither of them ready to break the silence yet. There were questions, and people they needed to consider, but she wasn't ready to confront any of that at the moment.

Rose wanted the moment to last a little bit longer, in case this didn't happen again, because her stupid insecurities seemed to start creeping to her brain slowly again. She wanted to imprint this moment into her memory, Scorpius' hands on her waist gripping, the way his eyes looked up-close, his breath on her lips with its licorice tinge, the mess his hair had turned into, and a million other things she would hold dearly until her mind grew decrepit and failed her.

Slowly they finally moved apart.

They both started to speak at the same time, then stopped and chuckled.

"You know what Red?" he asked

"Hmmm?" was her very smart answered.

"I reckon this is a better way to get rid of stress than the potions the 7th years we're trafficking."

The both started laughing. Three days back a whole lot of 5th years had clogged the toilets with sudden burst of diarrhea. Some 7th year old had bottled some constipation potion, and labeled it as a brain "relaxer" and convinced a whole bunch of students that this potion had been responsible for the remarkable number of OWLs they had received. Which had resulted in many of their classmates chugging down bottles and bottles of potion they had bought for a mere five galleons and then spent hours in the loo.

After the laughter had passed, Scorpius moved forward again as if to grab her, but at that moment a scream from the hallway surprised them and they ran out together, the ever-responsible prefects.

….

The rest of the year was a blur for her, between revision, exams and prefect duties.

There were a thousand moments during the year when she wanted to bring the kiss up, but somehow, she could never bring herself to do it.

Several times they were patrolling together, taking care of first years, working in the library, or studying whole nights in the common room until the sun came up, on their own, but she could never quite pluck up the courage to make the first move.

She was sure Scorpius wanted to bring it up himself, but things always seemed to get on the way, and after so much time had passed Rose thought he had probably forgotten about it and moved on. But of course, she never forgot, and rather pushed her feelings back in a corner of her mind, where they had rested comfortably since her first day in school...

_AUTHOUR'S NOTE_

Hey Guys!

Sorry for the long, long wait between chapters, but between planning a wedding and work I really have had no time to write.

As always thanks for reading, reviewing and commenting, I reaaaally appreciate it.

Thanks for visitin'

Loads of Love

NakedMoleRat


	6. Sixth year

Moments

Sixth Year

 _Monster._

There they were, walking near the lake hand in hand, looking beautiful.

She felt that they had reached a level of perfection rarely seen in those sappy sweet adds that were posted in the Daily Prophet.

Her hand fitted perfectly in his, and as she turned her head up and looked at him his smile seemed to bloom. His eyes all but twinkled, there was love in his gaze she was sure of it.

Rose had never seen him look happier, and she felt... she felt, well if she was honest it was KILLING her.

She didn't know how things had gotten this way, since that moment in that empty classroom last year she had to admit that she had always kept the hope in her heart that it would be her walking hand in hand with him, not April bloody McKinnell.

Rose hated her, she wanted to destroy that innocent face of hers, mess up her perfectly quaffed hair, and break her long pretty nails.

If she was honest with herself however she knew that she didn't want to hurt her, it was just that some basic human instinct seemed to make people want to hurt when them themselves were hurting.

By Merlin, she was hurting.

And those emotions had transformed her in some sort of monster, something ugly had blossomed within her from the first time she saw them smiling to each other.

Roses' friends and family had noticed that the happy, bubbly, side of her was currently missing in action, but nobody was brave enough to say something to her.

She had become a recluse, focusing only in her studies and her prefect duties. If it wasn't for the mysterious appearance of house elves with trays of food wherever she happened to be hiding, pardon, studying at the moment, she probably would have starved by now.

Lost in thought, she stayed on the ground looking at the horizon until the sun started setting, she was about to stand up and dust herself off and move into the library for a bit more studying, when she felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Fancy seeing you outside, Red" said a very familiar voice.

"Oh, hey Scorpius" she answered, feeling herself stiffen up at his touch.

"It's not often we get to see you out and about these days" he said smiling slightly at her.

"Oh yeah, well I have been busy, homework and things you know?"

His hand was still on his shoulder, and although he wasn't holding on tight, Rose felt like she could burst into tears in that moment.

It had been so long since she had spent any extended period of time next to him, and so absolute had been her withdrawal from human company that her body didn't seemed to know how to react.

"Are you heading back to the common room now? Let's go, I'm heading that way before supper, I'll walk with you."

"Oh no, that's ok, I'm sure April is waiting for you to go to dinner together." she told him, trying hard to sound casual.

Rose thought she probably didn't quite manage the casual tone she was hoping for because Scorpius' tightened on her shoulder and he raised his gaze to look directly at her.

The electric current that seemed to have held them together a life time ago in that empty classroom seemed to be at work once again, but instead of the excitement and anticipation she had felt then, she was being filled with dread.

This wasn't right, back then she had convinced herself that somehow his hands had been made to fit her body, that her height was decided by some magical circumstance to compliment his, but now his hand on her shoulder seemed to only be there to remind her of what she was not meant to have.

"Listen Rose" he started to say, but she interrupted him, she was quite sure she didn't want to hear what was coming next.

"I need to go to the library to finish the Astronomy essay, I'll see you later Scor" she said quickly, starting to walk away but his hand was still on her shoulder and he stopped her from leaving.

"Listen Rosie" he repeated "We are all worried about you, are you ok?"

"I'm fine" but her answer came too quickly, and it reeked of insincerity.

"Rosie..." Scorpius said looking at her.

"It's fine Scorpius, I can manage." Rose answered, trying to put an end to this conversation, and his touch. She had to get away as fast as possible, because her defenses were not going to hold up for long, not when he was standing so close to her with honest concern in his eyes.

"I know you can manage Rose, but you have not been eating properly, you barely sleep, refuse to meet me or anybody in your family, and I have not seen you smile for months now. I'm worried about you Red and I... I miss you, you know. You are one of my best mates and we haven't talked to each other for ages" he finished.

He had done it. He had gone and broken down all her defenses that she had built up for herself.

She was strong, she came from a family of strong independent women, warriors.

She fancied herself a warrior as well, her mom, her aunt, for Merlin sakes even, her grandmother had battled against Voldemort and his followers and came up victorious.

She liked to believe she was at least half as strong as them, but then why and how was she in his arms again crying her heart out, being held like a damsel in distress in the arms of a savior.

All the feelings she had pushed down for the last months had resurfaced because of him, did he know? Knew that all these tears were for him, not because of him.

She wasn't fanciful, she knew she could live without him, but just now she had come to figure out how much she didn't want to. His absence in her life had been like an open wound that refused to heal. At this moment with Scorpius arms around her, she made up her mind, she would rather have him in her life with April, than without him.

She let herself cry, and be held by him, but this was it, Scorpius heart belong to somebody else, and she would find a way to cope with that, it wouldn't be easy, but it had to be done. Ironically enough, the fact that she knew that he loved her as a friend had to be fuel to her, even if that was one of the reasons she was hurting.

After crying for what felt like days, and all the tears that she had in her body, she gave a little step back and gave him a sad smile.

"Sorry about dumping all over you Scor, I don't think I realized just how stressed out I was until now" she told him.

They started walking back to the castle together, joking a bit as they had done numerous times before.

Scorpius knew that things were not quite what they were before, but he was pleased and proud to see some strength and life back in his Rose's eyes.

Not his Rose, no, he had made sure of that, but at least things seemed to be falling into place again, and he vowed to himself, as he saw her walking back to their common room with her eyes still puffy and red, that he would make it better.

And Merlin help him, we would do his outmost to never make her cry again, his sanity depended on it.

\- Author's note -

Hiya guys, been trying to upload more often lately.

This chapter has been my favorite to wrote so far, I enjoy a bit of angst in my life now and again.

Although I like the way this chapter came out, it was hard to find a balance for Rose, because I didn't want to make her seem as some silly girl pinning away for a guy. I don't think Hermione's daughter could ever be like, but after that she IS half Ron, so there you go.

Hope you like it, we only have one chapter left to go, any guesses on how it will end?

I have a loose outline of what I wanted the chapters to be, but honestly, I have no idea about the last one, because after all, they will only be 17-18 years old and after all who gets a happy-ever-after so early in life...?

As always, any comments and suggestion are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

Naked Mole Rat.


	7. Seventh year

**Moments**

 **Seventh year**

 _ **Feelings.**_

They had done it, they were finally graduating Hogwarts.

As Scorpius was getting ready to attend the farewell ceremony he was distracted by memories from his life in school.

Detentions, exams, laughs, mid-night adventures, Quidditch matches, fights and everything else in between.

With his foot halfway into a sock he heard a knock on his door and in walked a red head smiling mischievously. Incidentally this same red head was in most of the moments he had be reminiscing about seconds ago.

Things had gotten insane, everything around him seemed to somehow remind him of her, and distracted him from important lessons and exams. It was a wonder he somehow managed to get through his NEWTs.

As the red head approached him, he started to think about his last year in school.

He could split the year in three parts...

The first part was pure **anticipation.**

At the end of their sixth year they had mended their relationship that had slowly started to crack when he started dating a pretty Ravenclaw, but by the time the summer break had rolled in he had broken up with April and things with Rose had gone back to normal.

The beginning of 7th year had come with unexpected surprises, they had become head girl and boy, and as such had to spend a lot of time together.

It had escaped no one's notice that they had grown even closer as time went by, or as Al had put it, it had become uncomfortable to be next to them when they were together since they couldn't keep their eyes and sometimes hands from each other.

One of those moments came to mind perfectly and vividly to him.

It was hot outside, and himself, Rose, and Al were enjoying one of their very rare free times together outside near the lake.

They had gotten rid of their cloaks, ties, and in his and Al's case their button up shirts as well. He and Albus were discussing their upcoming match against Hufflepuff and rose was laying on her cloak reading an Arithmancy book.

Scorpius turned to ask Rose about their patrolling schedule so Albus could schedule the extra practices he wanted when he got distracted, very, very distracted.

Rose had suddenly uncrossed her legs and her skirt had ridden slightly up, and he had lost all power of speech. His mouth had suddenly gone dry, and he felt his temperature go up a few degrees. He couldn't avert his gaze from that centimeter of white, creamy, skin.

Rose had looked up from her book to stare at Scorpius and when she realized what he was staring at, she raised her eyebrow and gave him a very slow, satisfied, sort of smile even as her cheeks grew redder.

He didn't know how long they were grinning at each other when he heard Albus grumble something about being in public and walked away offering no excuse.

"What were you saying Scorr?" she asked rolling over on her stomach so she could look up at him.

"Umm" he was quite sure a few seconds ago he had been able to speak coherently but now all he could do is stare at her lips as she looked at him with that mysterious smile.

Scorpius felt her hand move to his thigh to shake him a bit, and he wonder how had he not burst into flames yet.

Unconsciously it seemed his hand moved to grab hers, and for a while they just stayed like that, enjoying the growing anticipation in the air. Rose made a move to get closer when they both heard Al screaming.

"OI! You two are supposed to be patrolling soon!" he screamed at them from far away.

They both got up and dusted themselves, Rose reached to grab a leaf that had stuck to Scorpius' trousers and again he was fixated looking at some part of her, this time it was her hand.

And as they walked up to the castle, he kept staring at it, wondering why in Merlin's hell he couldn't pluck up the courage to grab it again.

The second part was filled with **apprehension**...

They were patrolling at night together, making sure none of the younger students were out of bed., as part of their many duties.

They had reached the Astronomy tower, which wasn't necessarily part of the path they had to take in their night time patrolling, but they always seemed to end there together.

Rose went to lean in one of the many open windows to stare at the expansive school grounds.

"I can't believe this is it, that after this year we will not be coming back..." she said trailing off quietly.

"I know, for a while it seemed that this year would never get here, and now we are less that 4 months from graduating." he answered as he stood next to her.

Her eyes were filling with sadness, and something else, and uncertainty that he didn't like seeing there.

He couldn't help himself, he hugged her, and while he was standing there holding her, he thought he had to change things, he enjoyed the flirting and back and forth they had, but it was time to discover new things.

He was not going to be part of the uncertainty that was filling his Rose's eyes.

He had gone over this in his head for months, years actually, he had always liked her, even before he had acknowledged it. Al had always said he fancied her, and at first, he would deny it, but for the last years he had stopped denying it and just listening to his best tell him to just go for it, even when the conversation always ended with Albus assuring him that if he hurt her, he would crush the Malfoy family jewels.

And then on their fifth year they had gone and kissed, and kissing her was like nothing else he had done before. He had been blessed with good looks and a calm demeanor that seemed to attract girls to no end, in their mind he was the villain in a lurid novel, therefore he had never been starved of female company.

But Rose was nothing like the other girls, she knew he was no villain, and that although people expected him to have the arrogance and ideals that his father and grandfather had once paraded, he was nothing like that.

After the glorious kiss, Scorpius had started doubting himself, everything she did he would store away in his brain to then dissect in the middle of the night.

People thought him confident, but he wasn't, not really. He had always been loved by his mum, and she had always been happy to support him and encourage him in anything he wanted to do, but he had been raised between two worlds.

His parent's world, where there was love and acceptance from his mom, and then his grandparent's world where his mom was a persona non grata, and even though he knew to his core that his grandparents loved him, he was told that the values he was being raised with were wrong, that the world was out of order, and that was expected to act a certain way and believe certain things.

These things left Scorpius with the lack of swagger and confidence he had heard his dad had walked in, in his time in Hogwarts.

Rose knew this, and yet she had always been there, helping him believe in himself, laugh at himself, and believe he was worthy of people's trust and affection.

But this self-doubt was hard to leave behind, and so, when Rose had not made a move to re-create that moment in a forgotten classroom, he had convinced himself that she didn't want anything else except friendship, and he needed her as a friend, that even though there were moments, he caught her looking at him for a longer time that necessary, or touching him, he was too scared too loose her as her friend, and half of his support system in school, that he didn't make a move.

Albus kept going on that she fancied him as well, but he was terrified of making a miss step and have her disappear from his life, which he thought if he were to lose here, he might end up losing his best mate as well, and with that he couldn't deal, just thinking about it made his blood run cold.

So, he didn't act on his feelings, and fifth year ended.

Sixth year passed much on the same way, he even dated a different girl, and tried to ignore how his Rose seemed to be wilting away, and convincing himself that he had nothing to do with it.

He couldn't bare the idea that he was somehow causing her pain, and so he watched from afar, as she wasted away, and he tried to take care of her remotely, making sure she ate and sending house elves with trays of food with her, asking other girls in his year about her sleeping schedule, and even taking some prefect duties from Rose without her knowledge.

Until one day in a lake he had seen her, dismissed the girl in his arm, and went to her. After talking to her and holding her as she cried her heart out, they had seemed to patch things up, and he had seen something in her eyes that he hadn't seen in a while, determination.

He ended up breaking up with his then girlfriend, and he too chose to be determined, determined never to hurt her again.

And this thought brought him back to the Astronomy tower, where Rose was still on his arms.

She looked at him and said: "I can't imagine you and Al leaving me for the whole summer, it's the first time in years we won't spend the holidays together"

"You could always join us in the tour, you know?" he said also unable to fathom a whole six months around the world without her.

"I really wish I could, but after being accepted in the healer program, I will have almost no free time after graduation... No time to go and watch you and Al cavort with foreign witches" she added almost as an afterthought.

"Al will be the one doing the cavorting, I will just be watching him and making sure he doesn't get in too much trouble, or end up married to a hag or something" he told her, but he knew he had to make a move, this conversation had been dropped into his lap almost like magic.

"Mmm, so is that the only reason you won't be chasing Veelas abroad? Because you're Albus' safe keeper?" she asked him smiling once again.

"Well yeah, that and other reasons" He answered her, twirling a strand of her wild red hair in his finger.

"What reasons may that be Mr. Malfoy?" she asked him, using one of his favorites pet names for him.

"Well... I got my own Veela-like creature back home" he told her, and felt himself blushing slightly.

"Victoire?" she asked him with a complete act of seriousness, even though he could see she was trying very hard not to smile.

"Rose..." he all but growled trying hard to sound menacing.

She laughed, a singularly happy laugh, and just hugged him harder.

He leaned forward and gave her a peck on the cheek "You really are a good egg Rose Weasley"

The third part was nothing but **amazement.**

He had just walked in to the prefect's bathroom, needing a refreshing shower after partying the whole night with the rest of the seven years, celebrating that they were finally done with exams.

Somebody had sneaked in bottles and bottles of Firewhisky and other prohibited beverages, and he was a bit tipsy. He had left Rose in the couch where she had fallen sleep after numerous shots, next to Albus, also sleeping with his mouth wide open.

He heard the door open again, and in walked Rose, smiling loopily at him, her beauty seemed to make his breath catch in his throat, and he forgot he had already taken his shirt off.

"Hey Scorr, I wondered where you'd gone to" she said slurring a bit.

"Just needed a break from the craziness going on downstairs" he said taking a seat in the edge of the massive bath.

"Hey, people deserve the celebrate, everybody worked very hard this year" walking towards him.

"Oh yeah, I thought you had run out of celebration, I did after all, leave you snoring next to your cousin after your hundredth Firewhisky shot" he told her smiling at her.

She huffed at his snoring comment but otherwise ignored it.

"I was thinking of other kind of celebration..." she said, surprising him as nobody else could, and sitting on his lap.

"Oh yeah? Is there any way I can assist you in your plans Mrs. Weasley?" he asked putting his arms around his waist.

"Mmm, I think I can find a use for you Mr. Weasley" and for the first time since their fifth year, she kissed him, and he was kissing her back.

The rest of the night had been a blur, a very enjoyable blur that was, that included some swimming in the fragrant bubbles of the bath, and a master plan to sneak Rose back into his bed.

And as he woke up the next morning with Rose next to him, he was amazed that such a creature was lying next to him, in the bed that had seen him grow up, and how there had been several bumpy parts of the road they had taken together almost seven years ago, he wouldn't change a thing, because it meant that at last he was finally, and fully hers.

He shook her a bit.

"Hey Red, you gotta wake up, if your cousin finds you here, he'll have my head" he whispered in her ear.

She just made some delightful sleeping noise and cuddled closer to him.

He was, once again, filled with amazement, and wonder, but most of all happiness that she was finally there.

Which brought him back to the future, as he saw her walk into that very same room, to that very same bed.

"Ready Scorr?" she asked.

"Almost" he said, and pulled him towards him until they were both laying in his bed.

They could be, after all, a bit late to the graduating ceremony.

-AUTHOUR'S NOTE-

TADA! And it's finally done!

This was honestly the hardest chapter to write and I think, also, the longest. But I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this story and hope you enjoyed reading it as well.

Sending my readers loads of love, see you next time.

NakedMoleRat

Ps. A kinda, sorta, not really, sequel is already in the works, and it's a bit more adult, please watch out for that.


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